An Israeli military spokesman faced pointed questions Monday over the deaths of at least 42 Palestinians Sunday, including what Gaza officials said were 16 women and 10 children — insisting the Israel Defense Forces will “investigate” the civilian fatalities and “adjust” Israeli strikes.
“I would say that that was definitely not the aim of the strike. The aim was to degrade the enemy capacity that military infrastructure uses for its military operations, which has a clear military goal,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told reporters.
“Obviously, clearly, the goal was not to strike the civilians. And since we do know that we have struck, as I just said, dozens, if not more, of kilometers of underground infrastructure, that is one abnormal event, a collapse, which we didn’t assess was going to happen,” he added.
Members of Palestinian civil defense search for bodies or survivors as an excavator clears the rubble of destroyed houses following Israeli airstrikes in Al-Wahda Street in the middle of Gaza City, on May 16, 2021. Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua via Getty ImagesThe fatalities Sunday came during the deadliest night of recent airstrikes between both sides.
Of the nearly 200 Palestinians killed so far in Gaza, nearly a third — 58 — have been children, while several dozen were women. At least 1,230 people have been wounded.
Spokesman of the Israeli army, Jonathan Conricus, speaks on the recent operations. Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesRegarding the civilian casualties, Conricus said the IDF “is investigating and adjusting. We will adjust for the future in terms of the type of ammunition, perhaps angle and size” of the Israeli strikes.
A municipal worker works outside a damaged building that was hit by a missile fired from the Gaza Strip. Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images“I don’t know the specifics of how the Air Force, we’re going to adjust, but this specific event is being looked into, since it was definitely not the aim of the attack to cause any civilian casualties, let alone the number of fatalities that you mentioned,” he said.
